"Is there a cheaper way to get into Saga?" Topic

Their miniatures are awesome, but pricey. I was wondering if there was another company that Saga players lean towards for miniatures to save a few bucks?

15mm

Did not know 15mm was compatible for Saga! Very cool! Thanks!

Wargames Factory Saxons and Vikings 28mm, 30 figures for around $20 USD and they are compatible size wise with gripping beast, who also do a very nice plastic set but more expensive than WGF.

1/72 plastics, probably cheaper than 15mm.

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I was wondering if there was another company that Saga players lean towards

Use whatever figures you like. As long as they are based individually they'll work fine for Saga.

1/72 Plastics, 28mm Plastics, 15mm are all legitimate options.

Get two boxes of Wagames Factory plastics (Bondi & Huscarls) at the Warstore for $36 USD and you've got an army!

Conquest makes plastic Knights & Infantry link

What everyone else has said about figures (some people even go down to 10mm, but that's to small for me to individually base).

As for the dice, if you go onto the Saga forum, you can download icons to print onto stickers and put them onto blank dice – that's what I did – or you can just use ordinary D6.

When using d6, you can write the numerals on sticky note. Make sure the area has only the sticky part under it. Cut the numeral in a neat square and put it in the board in the appropriate place. I use an xacto to make the cut. Won't interfere with the dice rolling like stickers on dice can.

I would wager that 90% of SAGA players are simply trying out a new set of rules with already painted armies.
Some friends were playing in a tournament this weekend with figures painted back in the early 1980s.

To think that a historical rules set can dictate the figures or manufacturer (or scale!) is ludicrous. They can recommend but that's about it.

Saga Tapestry, a website dedicated to Saga, has 2 articles on how to build out cheap armies:

link

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Steve

Plastics are of course a great choice. Some companies like Old Glory or Sg. Major have really affordable metals.

Alternatively, if you've got a local con or game store auction, (or on the marketplace here) you can probabaly score some figs for a fraction of MSRP

Plastics are of course a great choice. Some companies like Old Glory or Sg. Major have really affordable metals.

Alternatively, if you've got a local con or game store auction, (or on the marketplace here) you can probably score some figs for a fraction of MSRP

Black Tree Designs often runs sales if you sign up for their email newsletter. I've assembled both 6pt Vikings and Norman armies almost entirely out of BTD minis and spent under $125 USD for both.

Not sure you can call (I assume Gripping Beast) miniatures 'pricey'. I'm on a budget myself, but SAGA must be (miniatures wise, certainly not rules and dice etc wise) one of the best value major historical games out there.

What is it, about fifty quid for an 'army'? And as others had said, use GP/Conquest plastics and that's halved.

Compare that with getting a playable FOW force, or imagine exactly how much a playable Warhammer force would cost you off the shelf….

Tbh, I think it's a time when 'value games' are on the rise. One force for IHMN just cost me £27.00 GBP, and one for Ronin cost £22.00 GBP They were quite pricier than I could have gone too, as I went for the 'official' miniatures. Muskets and Tomahawks is another game were you can get a full for fo…£40? Before you even go plastic.

Or even smaller scale, or 1/72 plastic.

I do think their are much more games these days which don't demand so much of an outlay than in the past.

There is also the "Old Glory" line. You cannot beat them for metal figure diversity, quality and (find someone with a discount card in your local group) lowest prices of any mentioned above.

There are some great 15mm Dark Age lines out there – Splintered Light and Khurasan are among my favorites, but there are plenty more. I'm going to collect individually based units for Pig Wars skirmish (and throw in some Copplestone miniatures for a Hyborian element), and I'm sure you could do the same for Saga at a very low price.

Importantly with Saga the measurements are given in one of four units, so if you scale those according to whatever base size you use (Saga uses 2-3cm for standard foot) the gameplay doesn't change. Basing 15mm or 20mm on 2cm would look fine too, I expect.

The haT 28mm Spanish and Arab figures are fairly affordable – 12 cavalry for well under $20 USD – if quality and compatibility are secondary.

Buying figures for Saga is fairly affordable as compared to a full army scale game. It becomes less affordable when one tries to acquire almost every faction. Not that I know anyone who has done that…(tries not to look guilty)…

I would recommend against going to a non-standard scale. One of the benefits of SAGA with its relatively quick duration and small model count is that you can easily do pick-up games at your local game store or at cons. If you have a 10mm SAGA army you will be much less likely to find opponents. If you are just planning on playing with your local group and you can all agree on that scale then this is not an issue.

Also, to slightly correct Mr. Elmo, if you get the WF Huscarals and Bondi plastics, you can actually make 2 6-point Viking armies, minus the Warlords. So go in with a buddy and you are out about $20 USD each.

I agree with nochules on the scale issue. You can always dig up old figures off ebay or at the show flea markets like Wally's Basement at Historicon. I got a handful of Foundry Vikings off a buddy who was sick of looking at them. My Medieval Spanish army has a few Heritage Knights and Magic Miniatures in it just for fun.

Thanks guys! I think my next project will be a Saga warband!

Just took a look at the SAGA starter armies. The figures are nice looking, but most of the options above would be half or less the cost.

Now I'm tempted to try it….